Minerva's Slight Cold
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: A fluffy Minerva-Albus story, in which Albus has to care for a sick Minerva - with Severus' help. AU


**Minerva's Slight Cold**

Hermione, Harry, and Ron were sitting in their first afternoon class of a rainy, cold Friday in December of their sixth year at Hogwarts. Although Hermione loved all her classes, she liked Transfiguration most due to the fact that Professor McGonagall was her favourite teacher. Today, they had to transfigure a plush cat into a living cat, to stun the cat before it could move away from the desk, and to transfigure it into a rabbit. So far, only Hermione and Harry had managed the task and had been told to try to change the stunned rabbit into other small animals. Hermione had already been practising the Transfiguration for a while, but something made her watch the teacher today. Something seemed strange about Professor McGonagall, even if Hermione had not yet figured out what it was.

Suddenly, Ron kicked her from her left side and hissed, "Watch Harry; he's asleep."

Hermione threw a concerned glance at her other best friend, who was sitting on her right side, noticing that he was fast asleep with his arms popped up on the table and his head on his palms. Hermione sighed. She knew that Harry had been struggling with nightmares during the last few nights and was constantly suffering from headaches. He could hardly keep his eyes open during the day. Fortunately, even the teachers knew this, at least Professor McGonagall, who had already sent him to Madam Pomfrey several times, but Harry had always told her that it was unnecessary because he was fine. 'Shall _I wake him up, or shall I let him sleep?_' she mused, knowing that it wouldn't take long until the professor would raise her voice and shout, "Mr. Potter!" to wake him up with a jerk.

On this Friday however, Professor McGonagall didn't shout but walked over to Harry and put her hand onto the boy's shoulder. "Mr. Potter, wake up," she said in a slightly hoarse voice.

Hermione gave the teacher a piercing look, noticing that she looked outright ill. From the other end of the class she hadn't seen that the professor's cheeks looked flushed, her eyes were glassy and clouded with dark rings around them, and pearls of sweat had appeared on her forehead. "Are you all right, Professor?" she blurted out in concern.

"Yes, of course, Ms. Granger," Professor McGonagall replied in a crisp voice, even if slightly hoarse, that made Hermione feel as if she was five years old and had asked her mother ten minutes before dinner if she could have a lollipop. "Mr. Potter, if you don't feel well, please go back to your dormitory or to Madam Pomfrey. Your friends will excuse you for the next class," the teacher spoke with Harry in a very quiet voice.

"No, I'm fine, thank you, Professor," Harry replied, rubbing his eyes.

Hermione watched as Professor McGonagall slowly walked back to her desk and let herself sink into her chair before she turned to the class and dismissed the students. Harry and Ron stormed out of the classroom, chuckling. "She forgot to give us homework, that's brilliant!" Ron shouted excitedly, while they descended the stairs in order to head to the Charms classroom.

"Please go ahead, I have to speak with the Headmaster about something," Hermione informed her two friends of a sudden decision she had just made and turned into the direction of the gargoyle. Fortunately, she knew the password since Harry had to visit the Headmaster on the previous day, and she had heard Harry and Ron laugh about the password. "Mistletoe," she told the gargoyle, which opened immediately.

"Ms. Granger," the Headmaster greeted her gently, offering a lemon drop.

"No thank you, Professor," Hermione politely declined. "I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, but I'm very worried about Professor McGonagall. She seems to be ill. She has dark rings under her eyes, her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes look glassy and sick. Moreover, she sounded hoarse, and she behaved differently than normal, just as if she wasn't feeling so well."

Dumbledore pointed his finger to a small parchment right behind his desk and mumbled, "Minerva."

Hermione watched in awe as fine lines, apparently a time table, appeared on the parchment. "First years Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," Dumbledore read. "Ms. Granger, would you be willing to teach the first years Transfiguration? It's the last class for the week anyway."

Hermione threw the Headmaster a horrified look. "I don't know if I'll be able…"

"Ah, but I know that you're able. Please follow me, Ms. Granger." He tapped his finger at an empty space on the wall, mumbling, "Transfiguration classroom." Suddenly, a door appeared in the wall, and when Hermione stepped through the door behind the Headmaster, she found herself right in front of the Transfiguration classroom. "Don't worry, Ms. Granger, she won't be angry at you," Dumbledore turned to Hermione as if he had been able to read her thoughts. She anxiously followed him into the classroom.

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Minerva was sitting at her desk with her head on the desk and waited for the first sign of the next students to come in, so that she could compose herself in time. She was feeling awful today. Her head and throat were sore, and she felt hot and cold at the same time. In the morning, she had still hoped that it would clear up by itself. During the last class however, she had realised that she had obviously caught a cold, which wouldn't go away by itself. '_Shall I go to see Poppy?_' she mused but decided against it. '_No, Poppy would fuss over me and make me stay in bed for ages. I will Floo-call Severus tonight after dinner and ask him for a Pepper Up potion_,' she decided. '_Only one more class, and then it's the weekend anyway_,' she thought in relief. Suddenly, the door to the classroom was flung open, and she could notice someone's presence in her classroom.

Minerva slowly raised her head and turned her aching eyes to the visitors, two visitors, she noticed. "Albus, Ms. Granger, what are you doing here?" she croaked, terrified how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Ah, Minerva, I'm sorry to disturb you but I need you in my office right now. I have asked Ms. Granger to take over your class. Can you just advice her about your plans for the next class, please?" Dumbledore spoke up.

Minerva gave her friend and her student an astonished look. "Of course; here, Ms. Granger, the students have to transform these toothpicks into needles."

Hermione let out a relieved sigh. "Ah, all right. I will be able to handle that I think. Do I have to take notes or anything, Professor? I mean… Do you need to know who managed the Transformation?"

Minerva pulled out a parchment from under her desk and handed it to Hermione. "If you can manage to fill the data in, I would be pleased, but if it's not possible, it doesn't matter. Thank you, Ms. Granger."

"All right, Minerva, please step through the Floo into my office," Albus told Minerva, and she obeyed immediately, swaying a bit as she stepped over to the fireplace.

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Minerva let herself sink onto the sofa as soon as she arrived at the headmaster's office. Albus stepped out of the fireplace an instant later. "Come with me, Minerva," he ordered gently and led his friend up a small staircase into his private quarters.

"Where are we going? What is so important that I need to have a student teach my lessons, Albus?" Minerva croaked hoarsely.

"Your health is so important, my dear," Albus replied, leading Minerva into his bedroom. "I want you to lie down and rest during the class, and if you don't comply, I will call Poppy," he added sternly, making Minerva lie down on the huge bed.

Minerva wanted to fight against her friend, but she felt too awful to muster the energy for a fight. She lay down and couldn't help letting out a relieved sigh, not aware of the fact that Albus were watching her in concern. She jerked in surprise when she suddenly felt an ice-cold hand on her forehead. "Minerva, you're burning up," said horrified. He quickly walked over to his bathroom and returned with a magical thermometer. "Please open up for a moment," he ordered Minerva and stuck the thermometer under her tongue, ignoring her fierce protests. After a minute, the thermometer flared bright red, and the figures '39.3' came out of its tip.

Albus sighed. "Minerva, I'm sorry, but that's not a simple cold. That's the flu or something like that, and you need to see Poppy."

"No!" Minerva croaked hoarsely.

"Look, Minnie, I won't let her take you with her, I will keep you here and nurse you back to health, but we need her to check on you and give you some kind of potion," Albus tried to convince his stubborn friend in a soft voice.

"No!" Minerva replied, getting so upset that she ended up in a coughing fit. "You can ask Severus for a potion, please Albus."

"All right, I'll just give you a fever reducer first," Albus decided and retrieved a phial from his bathroom.

Minerva obediently drank the potion and fell asleep within minutes. '_Thank God she didn't know that it was laced with a sleeping potion_,' Albus thought in relief and conjured a cool cloth to bathe her hot and sweaty face before he transfigured her clothes into comfortable pyjamas, chuckling as he added a few roaring dragons to the design of sleeping lions. As soon as the next class was over, Albus went to the fireplace and called Severus. "I'm sorry, Severus, but I need you to check on Minerva; she is ill but doesn't want to bother Poppy," he explained to the Potions professor as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace.

"All right; where is she?" Severus asked and followed the Headmaster into his bedroom. "Oh, she looks really ill," he said astonished, taking in his colleague's flushed cheeks and dark rings under her eyes. He quickly waved his wand over the woman and sighed. "She has the wizard's flu. I don't appreciate that you don't want to call Poppy, even if I can understand it." He sighed. "I will brew a potion for her that you have to give her every four hours. You must not forget to make her drink it all four hours, and you have to take her temperature every time until her fever breaks. If it gets higher than forty degrees, you have to call Poppy. Do you understand that, Albus?" he asked sternly.

"Yes Severus, thank you very much."

"I'll have the potion ready in an hour. Will you come down for dinner?"

"No, Severus, can you please take my position tonight as Minerva and I are both not available? And can you please talk to Ms. Granger and ask if everything was all right? She kindly took over Minerva's last class today. Not that I believe that there could have been a problem, but I think that Ms. Granger needs someone to ask about it."

Severus gave the Headmaster a short nod before he stepped into the Floo and headed to his private lab to brew a potion for Minerva.

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Right before dinner, Severus finished the potion and brought a small batch to the Headmaster's office. "Shall I have a look at Minerva to see if the potion works?" he suggested, and Albus agreed happily.

Albus roused a very sleepy Minerva to make her drink the potion, while Severus stood in the shadow and unnoticed by his colleague watched her piercingly. "Yes, it worked," he told the headmaster as soon as Minerva had gone back to sleep. "Her temperature is down to 38.8. Nevertheless, don't forget to give it to her regularly and also keep an eye on her temperature." He handed Albus another phial. "This is for you, Albus, so that you won't get the flu from Minerva. If you need someone to watch over her while you sleep, you can call me anytime," he offered before he left the room, his robes billowing behind him.

During the first four hours, Albus sat next to Minerva, watching her worriedly and bathing her hot face with a cool cloth from time to time. This time, it was a bit easier to wake her up since the sleeping potion had already worn off. "How do you feel, Minnie? Can you open your mouth for me?" he asked, sticking the thermometer into her mouth as she complied.

Minerva felt absolutely horrible. When Albus woke her up, she had been in the middle of a fever induced nightmare about Dementors attacking the school. '_It's so cold_,' she thought and began to shiver violently when she suddenly felt something ice-cold in her mouth. Albus watched her in concern. He had already put several blankets over her but she still seemed to be shivering. '_Maybe I should lie down with her and pull her into my arms_,' he mused. Finally, the thermometer turned its colour to a bright pink, showing, '40.5'. '_Oh no_,' Albus thought. '_Severus told me I had to call Poppy if it was higher than 40 degrees. But it's two o'clock in the morning_.' "Minerva, I need you to drink this potion for me," he said softly, helping her sit up a bit and pressed the phial against her lips. After swallowing the slightly green liquid, Minerva drifted off to sleep quickly.

Seeing that she was fast asleep Albus quickly headed down to his office, pulling a map out of his drawer, and tapped it with his wand. Immediately, the map came into life and showed all people currently present at Hogwarts. Most of them seemed to be asleep as they were not moving at all. Albus searched for Poppy first. She was in her private quarters, obviously asleep. '_Severus_,' Albus thought, looking for his youngest colleague until he find him moving around his office. '_Ah, thank God, he's awake!_' He went to the fireplace and called Severus.

"Albus, what's wrong?" Severus asked in concern hearing the Headmaster's voice in the fireplace.

"Minnie's fever is up to 40.5 degrees; do I have to call Poppy in the middle of the night?"

Severus sighed. "No, wait another four hours. I'll come to check on her before I go to bed, which will be in about an hour. You can sleep until then, and I'll wake you up," the Potions Master promised and turned back to his work.

Albus quickly returned to his bedroom, prepared himself for bed, and slipped under the covers, taking Minerva into his arms, noticing that she smiled in her sleep as she nestled deep into his night robes. "Love you, Albus," Minerva mumbled sleepily.

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During the next two days, Albus spent most of the time either with Minerva in bed, cuddling her, or at her side, feeding her potions or chicken broth. On Monday morning, she felt much better and sighed in relief when the thermometer flared yellow and let out the figures, '37.5.' "Thank God, Albus; I wouldn't want to miss any more classes," she told her friend and scrambled out of bed.

"No, Minnie, you should rest a bit more." Albus shook his head in concern.

"No, Albus, I'm fine. Look, I know why I didn't want to go to Poppy; she'd have kept me a week; but your good care and hospitality cured me much faster. Thank you, Albus!"

"You're welcome, Minerva," Albus replied, placing a kiss on her forehead, glad that it felt so cool to the touch.

Minerva quickly took the Floo to her office to prepare for the first class, the Gryffindor sixth years. '_I must thank Ms. Granger_,' she thought while she headed into the classroom and looked around for the Golden Trio, astonished only to see Ron sitting next to Neville. "Mr. Weasley, where are Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter?" she asked briskly, glad that her voice was back to normal.

"They are in the hospital wing with the wizard's flu," Ron replied sullenly, causing Minerva to throw a guilty look around the class, noticing in relief that everyone else was present. '_I have to go and look after them during lunchtime._ _They don't have an Albus to cuddle them,_' she thought, feeling very grateful to her mentor, headmaster, colleague, lover, and best friend.

**The End**

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I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J., and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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